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Linguistic Fieldwork: A Practical Guide
This is a practical guide to all aspects of linguistic fieldwork. It not only discusses techniques for working on the phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and discourse of an undescribed language, but also considers field technology, grant application preparation, ethical research methods and problems which might arise when in the field.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 28, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 22, 2025
A quarter of this is appendices
April 1, 2011
Claire Bowern's LINGUISTIC FIELDWORK leads young linguists through the methodological, ethical and financial necessities of successfully doing research among native speakers. There are chapters on what gear to take along, how to manage your notes, how to treat your native consultants, and how to ask for grants.
The book is mainly targeted to fieldworkers who seek to describe small, hitherto undocumented languages, the sort that have no written tradition yet and we may not even be sure of its basic phonology. In my field, Finno-Ugrian linguistics, most languages already have good basic descriptions and perhaps even native literature and other media, and fieldwork is more likely to consist of focusing on a very specific portion of the language instead of (my last trip, for example, was to hand out questionnaires on verbs of motion in Mari and Chuvash). Other fieldworkers are of the Labov variety, exploring linguistic differences among neighbourhoods and social classes in their own town. There's nothing specifically for these latter two types of fieldwork, but there's still much to learn from the general fieldwork advice that Bowern gives.
Indeed, the chapter on ethics here was pretty revelatory to me, as when I told my department I wished to do fieldwork, all it said was "That's nice" and gave me some money. Bowern, however, notes that much funding in the US is tied to application with a demonstrably ethical approach, and I had never seen some of these rules before.
I wish that Bowern had written more about how to deal with officialdom, especially when the state is an oppressive one with little care for the minority one goes to study. Completing obligatory registration procedures upon arrival in a community when everyone thinks you're a spy is difficult, and locals might not want to work with you if they fear they'll be punished for talking to foreigners. Finno-Ugrian and Turkic linguists sometimes encounter such irritations in Russia.
Also, the section on technology could have used some brushing up with outside help. The book is correct that recordings should not be kept in MP3 format, but its explanation for why not is incorrect. And Bowern wisely recommends keeping one's data in a clear, open format instead of a proprietary one like Microsoft Word, but she neglects to mention XML dialects, which have the best shot at longevity.
Still, even with some weaknesses, I imagine all linguists can get something from Bowern's book.
The book is mainly targeted to fieldworkers who seek to describe small, hitherto undocumented languages, the sort that have no written tradition yet and we may not even be sure of its basic phonology. In my field, Finno-Ugrian linguistics, most languages already have good basic descriptions and perhaps even native literature and other media, and fieldwork is more likely to consist of focusing on a very specific portion of the language instead of (my last trip, for example, was to hand out questionnaires on verbs of motion in Mari and Chuvash). Other fieldworkers are of the Labov variety, exploring linguistic differences among neighbourhoods and social classes in their own town. There's nothing specifically for these latter two types of fieldwork, but there's still much to learn from the general fieldwork advice that Bowern gives.
Indeed, the chapter on ethics here was pretty revelatory to me, as when I told my department I wished to do fieldwork, all it said was "That's nice" and gave me some money. Bowern, however, notes that much funding in the US is tied to application with a demonstrably ethical approach, and I had never seen some of these rules before.
I wish that Bowern had written more about how to deal with officialdom, especially when the state is an oppressive one with little care for the minority one goes to study. Completing obligatory registration procedures upon arrival in a community when everyone thinks you're a spy is difficult, and locals might not want to work with you if they fear they'll be punished for talking to foreigners. Finno-Ugrian and Turkic linguists sometimes encounter such irritations in Russia.
Also, the section on technology could have used some brushing up with outside help. The book is correct that recordings should not be kept in MP3 format, but its explanation for why not is incorrect. And Bowern wisely recommends keeping one's data in a clear, open format instead of a proprietary one like Microsoft Word, but she neglects to mention XML dialects, which have the best shot at longevity.
Still, even with some weaknesses, I imagine all linguists can get something from Bowern's book.
August 3, 2019
A well-organized, clearly-written, and balanced portrayal of what it takes to do linguistic fieldwork. Bowern speaks from experience, giving detailed examples and personal anecdotes to illustrate her claims. She presents both sides of the debate on the role of theory in fieldwork, while advocating strongly for the need to actually learn the language (and ideally other languages) in order to be able to reliably apply theory to it.
September 10, 2025
5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: linguistics, fieldwork
This is a pretty good textbook that gets into the methods used in linguistic fieldwork. Some of the chapters are quite long, but overall the material is pretty good. The book covers everything from getting started to elicitation to data storage to ethics and grant writing.
Recommended if you like: linguistics, fieldwork
This is a pretty good textbook that gets into the methods used in linguistic fieldwork. Some of the chapters are quite long, but overall the material is pretty good. The book covers everything from getting started to elicitation to data storage to ethics and grant writing.
November 26, 2022
Good insight broadly, but far outdated in terms of technological linguistic advancements.
January 31, 2016
Good introduction, primarily useful for helping a first-time fieldworker think thru the pragmatics of planning fieldwork—both in terms of research questions & in terms of concrete factors of interactions with members of the community of the language researched. Bowern has opinions, which she's not shy about, but she regularly refets the reader to resources reflecting opposing perspectives. She consistently reminds the researcher of their responsibilities to the community in which they are conducting their research. The book addresses research on specific questions, but seems most geared toward the doctoral student working on a first systematic description of an endangered language. The book's usefulness is limited, however, by its dependence on a now disappeared Website for coverage of many of the more specific research tools it mentions: The site had been hosted by Rice, but Bowern is now at Yale. I'm glad I read the book, but it's not really adequate as a first course in fieldwork without the Website.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews